Chinese word dictionary

北叟失马

běi sǒu shī mǎ · lit. the old man lost his horse, but it all turned out for the best (idiom); fig. a blessing in disguise; it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good

Practice word

Word information

Simplified北叟失马

Traditional北叟失馬

Pinyinběi sǒu shī mǎ

Part of speechDictionary

HSK 3.0Not listed

HSK 2.0Not listed

Character breakdown

Study each Hanzi separately, then return to the complete word so pronunciation, meaning, and movement stay connected.

北běi

north; northern; northward

叟sǒu

old man; elder

失shī

to lose; to make a mistake, to neglect

马mǎ

horse; surname

How to learn 北叟失马

Listen once without reading, repeat the pinyin with its tones, then write every character in sequence. Finally, recall the complete meaning instead of memorizing each character as an isolated translation.

When the word appears in a sentence, check whether its part of speech and meaning match the definition shown here. Chinese words can change nuance with context.

Related vocabulary

Words with the same characters

Compare how a familiar Hanzi changes meaning inside another word.

北běi

north; (classical) to be defeated

北方běifāng

north; the northern part a country; China north of the Yellow River

东北dōngběi

Northeast China; Manchuria; northeast

马mǎ

horse; CL:匹[pi3]; horse or cavalry piece in Chinese chess; knight in Western chess; surname Ma; abbr. for Malaysia 馬來西亞|马来西亚[Ma3 lai2 xi1 ya4]

马路mǎlù

street; road; CL:條|条[tiao2]

马上mǎshàng

at once; right away; immediately; on horseback (i.e. by military force)